I study household and local public finance. 

Recently, I have been working on property taxation, rental assistance, and the financial consequences of disability.

Working Papers

The Canary in the Coal Decline: Appalachian Household Finance and the Transition from Fossil Fuels 

(with Joshua Blonz and Brigitte Roth Tran)

Accepted, Journal of Financial Economics

Media: Energy Institute Blog, BLS Monthly Labor Review

The Role of Property Assessment Oversight in School Finance Inequality

(with Alex Combs and John Foster)

Revise and Resubmit, National Tax Journal

Targeted Relief: Geography and Timing of Emergency Rental Assistance Funds

(with Theodore Figinski, Sydney Keenan, and Richard Sweeney)

Forthcoming, National Tax Journal

The Hidden Costs of Disability

(with Zofsha Merchant and Doug Webber)

FEDS Note 2025

Research Notes

Did the Pandemic Change Who Became Behind on Rent? Characteristics of Renters Behind on Rent Before and After the Pandemic Onset

(with Zofsha Merchant)

FEDS Notes 2023

Improving Housing Payment Projections during the COVID-19 Pandemic 

(with Jeff Larrimore)

FEDS Notes 2020

Media: Brookings

Publications

Health Insurance and Hospital Supply: Evidence from 1950s Coal Country

(with Theodore Figinski)

American Journal of Health Economics, Forthcoming

FEDS Working Paper

Bringing Health Care to Appalachia: The Long Run Impact of a Rural Health Care System

(with Theodore Figinski)

Economic Development Quarterly, 2022

Connecting Isolated Communities: Quantitative Evidence on the Adoption of Community Cellular Networks in the Philippines

(Niall Keleher, Mary Claire Barela, Joshua Blumenstock, Cedric Festin, Matthew Podolsky, Arman Rezaee, Erin Troland, Kurtis Heimerl)

Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development 2020

Does Getting Health Insurance Affect Women’s Fertility? Evidence from the United Mine Workers’ Health Insurance

(with Theodore Figinski)
American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 2019

Modest, Secure, and Informed: Successful Development in Conflict Zones
(with Eli Berman, Joseph Felter, Jacob Shapiro)
American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings 2013

Work in Progress

The Impact of Mobile Phones: Experimental Evidence from the Random Assignment of New Cell Towers

(with Joshua Blumenstock, Niall Keleher, and Arman Rezaee)

Funding from the Development Impact Lab and the Gates Foundation

Intergenerational Wealth and Insurance

Property Assessment Inequality Across Jurisdictions

The findings and conclusions presented here are my own and do not reflect the views of the Federal Reserve Board.